The Old Covenant and I (2)

Jeremiah 31:31-34

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Like I said last week, I will be running three series on the power of covenant release and under this series the following topics will be carefully looked into: (1) The old covenant and I, (2) My place in the new covenant and (3) My Spiritual birthright. The reason for this teaching is just so you have a better understanding of the power of the covenant God has entered with you personally as his dearly beloved. Today I shall conclude on the old covenant and I and for better understanding I encourage you to read the part one of this teaching. Here is the record from Hebrews 9:1-3 “then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shew-bread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holies of all.” In the old covenant, according to the above scripture, two ordinances of divine service were performed; one of such divine service was on a daily basis where the priest enters the Holy Place to perform his duties; morning and evening the lamps were trimmed, the coals of incense were placed upon the golden alter; the shew-bread was replaced weekly according to Numbers 28:3 and Numbers 16:2-6. The second ordinance was performed in the Holy of Holies, a closed chamber which only the high priest is permitted to enter one day in a year that the day of atonement according to Leviticus 16:30 “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.”

Under the old covenant, the Day of Atonement was a national holy day where the sins of the nation is covered by the blood of goats offered to God. Two goats were presented to the high priest one of such goat was killed and the high priest takes its blood into the holy of holies to present that blood to God, when the priest comes out of the holy of holies the people rejoiced knowing their sins has been forgiven. However, the second goat was driven into the wilderness as a way of carrying the nations’ sins away. It might interest you to know that the old covenant was given in Exodus 19:4-8 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.’

This conditional covenant clearly states that if the people obey then God will bless them and make them a special people to himself however, it might interest you to know that these set of people who had just agreed to the covenant of God had no relationship with God whatsoever. The generation that came out of Egypt after 400years had not encounter God personally; have you? The promise was first given to the patriarch Abraham in Genesis 17. Tracing this covenant back every one of the patriarch had a personal encounter with God and they knew very well the God of the old covenant. In Genesis 26:1-14 God tempted Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his covenant son Isaac and in his obedience God was honored. Isaac on the other hand came to know God personally when God sustained him through famine in Genesis 26:1-33. Jacob wrestle with the angel of the Lord and prevailed in Genesis 32:24-31 and Joseph on the other hand was taken from the prison to the palace in Genesis 41:14-57. All the aforementioned are the ancestors to the generation which God brought out of Egypt after 400years. Now these people whom God brought out of Egypt had no clue who God is however God was obligated to do unto them as he has promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but something tragic happened right after they left Egypt God took Moses to the mountain to obtain the law and out of impatient they people fell by erecting the golden calf; Exodus 32:1 says “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Dearly beloved, doesn't it bet your imagination how soon these people forgot the covenant God entered into with them after bringing them out of Egypt? It might interest you to know that even in the church today among believers rest the spirit of the golden calf.

Child of God, do you look for another route of escape when answers to your prayers seemed delayed? Do you forget easily what God has done for you in the past because of your present circumstance? Do you believe this lie The Old Covenant and I (2) other things the saying that ‘heaven help those who help themselves? Dearly beloved, A relationship with God does not entails any color of candle, prayer cloth, palm reading, psychic, voodoo, holy water, paid prayer contractor and phony prayer house. All you need is a relationship with God born out of grace and not of law for it is only grace that can fulfill God’s covenant in your life. Psalm 78:10 says “they kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law.” Dearly beloved, the old covenant did not succeed in achieving an ideal relationship between man and God not because the covenant was bad according to Romans 7:12 ‘Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.’ The problem was with the generation that received the covenant from God through Moses, and it was these same people God called a stiff-necked people in exodus 32:9. Like I said in part one of these teachings, no man can fulfill the law not even you and because of that God in his mercy introduced to you and I a new and better covenant which I shall be teaching on next week titled: My Place in the New Covenant.

MAY HIS JOY FILL YOUR HEART...

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